Best online summer classes for kids by subject

The best online summer class for your kid is probably not the one you'd pick for them. It's the one they'd pick for themselves — the subject they've been curious about for months but never had time to explore during the school year, or the skill they've been quietly practicing on their own.

Summer is when that kind of learning actually has room to breathe. Here's a subject-by-subject look at what online summer classes can look like when they're working well — and where to find the right ones.

Math summer classes

Math summer classes span a wide range: from camps that help a kid solidify a concept they found confusing during the year, to intensive prep programs for kids getting ready to tackle a harder class in the fall. The most effective ones are live and small-group, so kids get real feedback rather than working through modules alone.

Popular options include pre-algebra review, geometry boot camps, and algebra prep for incoming high schoolers. Outschool's math summer camps run weekly and cover everything from elementary foundations to calculus-level prep for ambitious teens.

Science summer classes

Science camps tend to attract kids who love experiments — and online science classes have gotten surprisingly good at delivering that hands-on feel. Teachers guide kids through at-home experiments using household materials, and the live format means kids can show their results, ask questions, and compare notes with other curious kids in real time.

Chemistry, biology, astronomy, and environmental science are all popular. Science summer camps are also a great fit for kids who find school science slow — the camp format moves faster and tends to skip the parts that bore them.

Coding and tech classes

Coding is consistently one of the most-enrolled summer subjects, and for good reason: it's project-based, immediately satisfying, and the skills transfer to almost anything. Kids can build their first game, learn web design basics, or go deep on a language like Python or JavaScript — all in a camp format that's structured enough to make real progress but flexible enough to follow their interests.

Outschool's coding summer camps range from beginner to advanced and cover game design, app development, and cybersecurity alongside the more foundational programming camps.

Art and creative classes

Art camps online are genuinely one of the best-kept secrets of the format. Drawing, digital illustration, animation, painting, and mixed media all translate well to live virtual instruction — especially for kids who learn better one subject at a time rather than in a weekly drop-in class. A week-long drawing camp, for instance, gives a kid real time to develop a specific skill rather than dabbling in a new technique every session.

If your kid is into visual art, art summer camps range from traditional drawing and painting to digital tools like Procreate and illustration software.

Reading and writing classes

Reading and writing camps are particularly good for kids who love stories but haven't found a format that fits them. Creative writing camps, book clubs, poetry classes, and journalism-style workshops give kids a social context for something they might otherwise do alone — and the small-group format tends to produce real work kids are proud of.

For kids who need reading support without it feeling like remediation, reading summer camps offer engaging, grade-appropriate content that doesn't make a kid feel like they're being "fixed."

Gaming, debate, and interest-led classes

Summer is also the right moment for classes that school would never offer. Minecraft world-building, chess strategy, debate and public speaking, anime drawing, cooking, music production, and game design are all legitimate options with real teachers and real learning behind them. These classes often produce the highest engagement of anything kids try all summer — because they're rooted in something the kid already cares about.

Browse all online summer camps by interest and let your kid filter for what actually sounds good to them. Summer is short — it's worth finding the class they'll actually look forward to.